Selling Social

Selling Social
[More Images]



Vaile says that as media companies continue to experiment with various business models and look to find their new positioning, social media could provide several vital tools for content generation and delivery, marketing, and cost saving.

“If a broadcaster is supported by advertising and their market moves to the internet, it needs to have a solution in place or its revenue will fall through the floor. I am 35 and I do not consider myself up to date with the latest gadgets, yet I still watch YouTube and other online platforms more than I watch TV.

"In fact last week I cancelled my TV subscription services simply because I wasn’t watching them. If I can get everything I want online, then people aged 16 to 25, the group advertisers want to target, will be more than capable of doing the same.”

The fact that the Middle East’s demographics are heavily skewed towards youth (one in five people are aged 15-24 according to the UN) in comparison to other markets indicates that these trends should be adopted in the region with little resistance.

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

Social media is not just about following a trend for the sake of not missing a fad and Vaile is quick to highlight the business case behind it.

“Everybody knows that if you distribute a print title online instead, there is a significant cost saving. If you have a community built around your online publication, you benefit from user generated content, one-on-one interaction, affinity marketing and of course the creation of a data asset,” says Vaile.

“A media company could use Facebook advertising to drive its business or it could develop its own vertically focused community where it can conduct the one-on-one marketing element within its own infrastructure and can own the data asset, maintain, control, manipulate and monetise that database,” explains Vaile.

A continued diversification of revenue sources is inevitable, Vaile claims. He predicts a sustained period of consolidation in the near future.

“There is a swing [toward new revenue streams] and broadcasters are asking themselves how they are going to make money,” claims Vaile.  “The advertising models are changing, the markets have shifted and the things that are driving spending are changing. We will see some merger and acquisition activity and some telco operators acquiring media companies three to five years from now.”

---